Decade of plenty is over for consultants

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Britain’s management consulting industry shed more than 5,000 jobs last year as it suffered its worst slump since the dot-com era, figures show.

Overall spending on consultants fell by 6 per cent to £7.96 billion as cash-strapped clients cut back on their use of outside advisers and put pressure on firms to reduce fees, according to a report published today by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), the industry body. The market grew by 5 per cent in 2008.

It is the first time in more than a decade that demand for consulting services has contracted and contrasts sharply with the